Mozilla is primarily known as the maker of the popular third-party browser for Windows, Mac and Linux, Firefox. However, the company has been diversifying itself, and has been working on many open source projects as well.

Mozilla’s Boot to Gecko (B2G) is one of them, and it aims to build a completely functional and standalone operating system for mobile phones using the open web. Yes, a mobile OS based on the open web! Readers can find more info about Mozilla’s B2G here and here.

Mozilla’s Boot to Gecko is in no way based on Android, but it does share some of the low-level building blocks of an OS like the kernel, libusb etc. Mozilla had also shown off B2G in action at the recently concluded MWC in Barcelona on a Samsung Galaxy S II.

XDA member and moderator – Pulser_G2 – has released a pre-alpha version of Mozilla’s Boot To Gecko for SGS2 handsets. Since B2G is still under development, most of the hardware is still not working on this pre-alpha build. However, the build is good enough to let user experience what B2G is, and how different it is from Android.

The ROM is in no way a daily drive since the basic phone functionalities like calling and all don’t work. Below is a pretty small list of what actually works on the B2G pre-alpha build -:

Camera

Audio

Front camera (cannot capture picture)

Video

Wi-Fi

SGS2 owners, who are interested in flashing this pre-alpha build of Boot To Gecko on their phone, need to use ODIN since Pulser has released a TAR version of the ROM. Also, the ROM contains a kernel with CWM so users can always flash back or restore their previous nandroid backup. The pre-alpha version can be downloaded from here.

Author: Rajesh Pandey

Rajesh is a 19 year old nerd, currently pursuing B.Com Hons from Bhawanipore college in Kolkata, India. He loves everything tech, especially Android. You can follow him on twitter @ePandu or mail to him at rajesh@techie-buzz.com.